Transplant truck chassis

[Lynn]

Now that the house remodel is almost complete (granite install slated for April 1), I had to start looking for another idiotic project.

I have done some pretty odd swaps back in the day. Helped a buddy put a 392 Hemi in a 57 Chevy, put a SBC in a 240Z before it was popular, and installed a tall deck 427 in a church bus (we called it the Magic Bus) with a 780 Holley on it. Only church bus around that could do 70 to 80 on the highway fully loaded, even in the mountains. Great for ski trips.

Anyway, I have posted pics of my 2R16 Studebaker farm truck before. I love the way it looks. I plan to make a car hauler out of it, modifying the dump bed and adding ramps. I have no doubt I can pull that off.... but at the very least I will have to do an engine swap. The stock flat head six had 95 horses WHEN IT WAS NEW, and I am thinking that at least 50 of them are now AWOL. I mean, I have to downshift to get it up the drive way. On top of that the 6.56:1 rear axle gear means that on a GOOD day, top speed is 52 mph. Now, I could just swap a SBC. I have plenty of spare parts. But then I have to worry about this trans, which is rated to handle “up to” 150 lb/ft. of torque. Then, I still have the rear gear issue. Pretty sure I am not finding any gears for this thing. The last straw is the brake set up on the Studebaker. With newly relined shoes and rebuilt cylinders, it is STILL a bit scary with a load. Would be nice to have more modern disc brakes.


So.... I am thinking of putting the cab and dump bed on a later model chassis. My wheelbase is 131 inches. A 1990 Chevy 3500 has a wheelbase of 131.5. Promising. I found a 3500 local to me with manual trans and factory A/C. Throttle body 454 with 385 lb./ft. torque. More modern brakes, power steering and A/C. Even Sherri would be willing to drive it. Right now, the Studebaker is the only vehicle we have that she refuses to drive, and I can’t say as I blamer her. It is primitive.

Here are pics of the potential donor (along with one of the Studebaker). It is a running, driving vehicle. I would go through the engine just because, but it already has a new clutch. Go through the brakes, get the A/C working and transplant my Studebaker cab and the dump bed (looks like a stake bed or flat bed). I have plenty of fab skills (after all I have a chop saw and two mig welders, which makes me a fabricator, right?) I know I will need to fab up some brackets and adapters to get the Studebaker stuff on the Chevy chassis.

I can get the “new” truck cheap enough. After cannibalizing the chassis, I can sell the bed and cab.

I have a couple questions for you truck guys. As you can see, this truck has the 8 lug wheels, but not dually wheels. If I am hauling a car, I would feel better with dually wheels in back. Can I just buy a set of 4 wheels and use this full floating rear? Fender clearance won’t be an issue, because I am going flat bed. I would rather not go looking for a complete rear end.

One last question: am I missing something else that would make this near impossible to do?